Monday, February 19, 2024

Basketball: "You're Not Spiderman"


Get it in our head, "you're not Spiderman." You don't have a superpower like Spiderman. You have a whistle and coach kids. 

They are vulnerable. They have feelings. They want to feel good about themselves, to be part of a team, to be seen and heard. 

In what ways can coaches do that best? 

"Never be a child's last coach." Never take away their dignity, their decency, and their humanity. After an altercation, a player asked if I wanted her to take the girl out. I replied, "to lunch?" 

Teach the game. Teach respect. Teach teamwork. Teach sportsmanship. 

When coaches offer the right lessons day after day, good things happen. Players put their dishes in the dishwasher, shovel driveways, and often make the honor roll. And they still learn how to cut, pass, challenge shots, and make many of their layups. Sometimes they win championships. But it's okay if they don't. 

Coaches model excellence, and players learn to establish adult relationships, earn advanced degrees, and work with intelligence, integrity, and energy. And as Buffett says, without the former two, the latter is dangerous. 

Occasionally, our players go on to have stellar basketball careers. That's wonderful, but that's not why most coaches are in it. 

Sometimes we won't have a lot to show for it. 


Maybe just a stack of cards from pre-adolescents with indelible lessons that meant something to them. This girl's card didn't predict a highly impactful basketball career but she became an All-State volleyball player and studies Data Science at a prestigious university. Remember, MUDITA, "your joy is my joy." 

"With great power comes great responsibility." 

Lagniappe. Coaches model good choices. 

Lagniappe 2. The score takes care of itself. 
Superheroes don't all wear capes. Nobody remembers who her middle school coach was. But she cares. 

 

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